Collaboration Summit 2015 - Open Innovation in Robotics & UAV

### Overview At the Collaboration Summit 2015, the speaker shared the trajectory of how open-source software and open hardware disrupted the aerospace and drone industries. Starting from an experimental weekend trying to engage his children with LEGO Mindstorms and RC planes, the speaker built the world's first LEGO autopilot and founded the DIY Drones community. This grassroots movement ultimately catalyzed the creation of 3D Robotics, a leading commercial drone manufacturer, and the establishment of the Dronecode Foundation under the Linux Foundation to anchor open innovation across robotics, aerial systems, and embedded computing.

### Key Topics - **Origins of DIY Drones**: How a failed weekend project led to building an autopilot using LEGO Mindstorms, sensors, and basic code, eventually evolving into an open community (DIY Drones) for hobbyists and developers to ask questions and share hardware designs. - **The Hardware Renaissance (2007)**: The convergence of 2007 milestones—including Arduino, RepRap 3D printing, Maker Faire, LEGO Mindstorms NXT, and the Nintendo Wii controller—which transformed embedded sensors and open-source electronics into low-barrier building blocks. - **The Smartphone Peace Dividend**: How the rapid scaling and supply chain efficiencies of smartphone components (MEMS sensors, ARM processors, GPS, cameras, wireless chips) made sophisticated robotics hardware affordable and widely accessible. - **Scaling Manufacturing with Jordy Munoz**: Partnering with a self-taught teenager in Tijuana who utilized used pick-and-place machines from eBay, Reflow ovens, and local manufacturing expertise to scale early products like Blimpduino into high-volume manufacturing. - **The Ecosystem Platform Model**: Transitioning from proprietary defense-industry aerospace models to an open ecosystem model, contrasting their platform approach with closed competitors like DJI.

### Technical Details - **Autopilot Architecture & Sensor Fusion**: Early builds leveraged ARM processors coupled with inertial measurement units (IMUs) composed of gyroscopes, accelerometers, and magnetometers to execute sensor fusion. Initial firmware managed basic actuator controls before integrating more advanced estimation and guidance algorithms. - **Distributed Load Balancing**: The software architecture enables multi-tiered compute across three layers: fast real-time control running on the drone autopilot at 1000 Hz, companion computation on a mobile device at 10 Hz, and high-level processing or mapping tasks in the cloud at 1 Hz. - **Autonomous 3D Scanning and Sensing**: Using automated flight routines (such as orbiting and crosshatching) or human-robot interaction where the drone tracks a user via GPS follow-me functionality while clearing terrain. Captured imagery (e.g., from GoPro cameras) is piped via APIs to cloud photogrammetry engines to construct photorealistic 3D point clouds and models. - **Governance and Architecture of Participation**: Establishing a pipeline that nurtures volunteer open-source contributors through tier-based recognition (t-shirts, hardware discounts, dev conference invitations) up to formal employment or equity grants without conventional resume filtering.

### Takeaways - Open innovation fundamentally changes how hardware and robotics companies scale, replacing traditional corporate competition with ecosystem-versus-ecosystem dynamics. - By shifting IP into open consortiums like the Dronecode Foundation, companies can foster widespread international adoption across commercial, agricultural, and enterprise verticals while navigating regulatory and technological hurdles collectively.